How the 11-year-old eco-warrior is turning vegetable waste into paper and setting an example

While most kids have been busy with their smartphones and video games, 11-year-old Manya Harsha from Bengaluru is busy making a change and calls herself an eco-activist.

Well, this Bengaluru girl, Manya is a passionate nature lover and crusader who has been rallying since age 6, against environmental abuses such as water wastage, littering on picnic spots, use of single-use plastic and deforestation and has set an example to the children of her age.

On an average, every household in India generates around 300 grams of Vegetable waste on a daily basis. If this waste is properly utilized, we can do wonders! With this thought, Manya started recycling the daily kitchen waste into handmade Vegetable paper!

Manya has developed eco-sustainable paper from vegetable peels that many people throw in the dustbin.

She kickstarted her experiments with "Everyday kitchen waste to Each Paper a day!" being her simple mantra.

Have you ever heard of Onion Papers? Papers made out of onion peels? Garlic peels? Potatoe peels? Here is how the young environmental activist during the Pandemic lockdown paved a green path with kitchen waste management as she believes, "NOTHING IN THIS WORLD IS A WASTE , UNTILL YOU CONSIDER IT TO BE WASTE" .

Notably, waste Management is one of the current crises which every city, every country is facing. Especially in a country with a huge population like India, Waste Management is an important issue.

During the festive season, the market is full of flowers, veggies, fruits, mango-bannana leaves, but post-festival, the market turns out to be a dump yard of leftovers ! This scenario always had made her think for a permanent solution as to how the flower and plant waste can be utilized in an Eco-friendly manner.

Manya makes colourful vegetable papers that look just like any other handmade paper. You can, write, draw, paint, fold and create art out of it. Once you are done with these papers, you can put them back to the soil as fertilizers. They easily decompose.

Apart from this, she distributed paper bags to local vendors, to reduce the usage of plastic & raised awareness among the trading community regarding the ill effects of plastic on our planet.

Manya has taken up many solo beach clean-up drives along with her family and encourages the youth of India to volunteer in such events.

In spite of the lockdown and ongoing Pandemic scenario, Manya's nature-friendly activities have never taken a setback.

Manya is also an author of 5 Nature-themed books that showcase important Environment issues and call for change.

Manya has undoubtedly set an example for many young kids to use activism as a tool to preserve environment and work together for Climate action. At such a young age, she is a motivation, not just for other students but also for us, adults.